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I'm sorry, but I think you're wrong. You make it sound as if all Teslas are suddenly as dumb as their phone-wielding drivers. The Tesla recognizes a stopped ca

I'm sorry, but I think you're wrong. You make it sound as if all Teslas are suddenly as dumb as their phone-wielding drivers. The Tesla recognizes a stopped car on the freeway much, much earlier than a human driver. The forward collision warning system is always attentive, never blinks. It won't panic slam the brakes, but will brake with exactly the required force. You really are overestimating the ability of human drivers here. If human drivers are so excellent in reading road conditions and anticipating to traffic, why do we have so many accidents? The severity of accidents with robotic cars is a magnitude lower, simply because they always pay attention. It's just that fatalities with autonomous vehicles are newsworthy, whereas fatalities with human drivers aren't. It's a classic example of the Baader-Meinhof phenonemon. Just because you read about it more, doesn't mean it actually happens more. I'm not saying that Teslas are 100% safe or that Tesla shouldn't investigate why these accidents happened. I'm also not saying that there aren't edge cases where a human driver could have prevented an accident where the Tesla would fail. But statistically speaking, autonomous vehicles with all their sensors are a lot safer than human drivers.

blackrock 8y ago
Look, don't get me wrong. I am all for autonomous cars. In fact, I dislike some human drivers so much, that I hope everyone is forced to drive an autonomous car. You know, the idiot drivers that drive erratically, are distracted, swerves in traffic, tail gates, speeds in excess compared to average traffic speeds, etc. These people should get their license revoked. Driving is a burden for these people, and they are better off taking the subway. Or an Uber. But they still need to get to their destination for work, for play, or for their errands. What I am stating, is that the current generation of robotic cars, are inherently unsafe. They need more situational awareness, such as the ability to see all traffic on the road. Including the car in front of the car in front of it. This can possibly be handled by the Vehicle-to-vehicle communication standard that the DOT is proposing. The other scenario might be to make illegal, all non-robotic cars from driving on the freeways and highways. So, all roads that allow you to travel at high velocity, must be a robotic car. But this presents another problem. If you take away people's ability to drive, then you also take away, their ability to get experience with driving at high speeds. So, in the future, you end up raising a whole new generation of people, that don't know how to drive properly at high speeds. Basically, until we get to a level of technology where these cars are fully safe, then the edge cases where accidents and collisions will happen, may end up being more critical with a robotic car, than with a human driver. The danger, lies in the fact, that these robotic cars, will lull the human driver, into a sense of complacency. Where they think that 99.90% of scenarios will keep them safe. And maybe it might. But what about that 0.10% scenario where it won't. And not only is it dangerous for them, then it is also even more dangerous for someone else. And when the robotic car gets into a situation where it needs human assistance, then it is an extreme edge case, where no human can possibly react safely in time. The human driver would never have gotten themselves into that situation in the first place. But even with all that, I am still rooting for robotic cars to succeed, and to safely drive us all one day. And to safely handle that 0.10% scenario.
- dirktheman 8y ago
  Totally agree with the mandatory robotic cars and that we should make them more safe, thanks for the clarification!

blackrock 8y ago

Look, don't get me wrong. I am all for autonomous cars. In fact, I dislike some human drivers so much, that I hope everyone is forced to drive an autonomous car. You know, the idiot drivers that drive erratically, are distracted, swerves in traffic, tail gates, speeds in excess compared to average traffic speeds, etc. These people should get their license revoked. Driving is a burden for these people, and they are better off taking the subway. Or an Uber. But they still need to get to their destination for work, for play, or for their errands. What I am stating, is that the current generation of robotic cars, are inherently unsafe. They need more situational awareness, such as the ability to see all traffic on the road. Including the car in front of the car in front of it. This can possibly be handled by the Vehicle-to-vehicle communication standard that the DOT is proposing. The other scenario might be to make illegal, all non-robotic cars from driving on the freeways and highways. So, all roads that allow you to travel at high velocity, must be a robotic car. But this presents another problem. If you take away people's ability to drive, then you also take away, their ability to get experience with driving at high speeds. So, in the future, you end up raising a whole new generation of people, that don't know how to drive properly at high speeds. Basically, until we get to a level of technology where these cars are fully safe, then the edge cases where accidents and collisions will happen, may end up being more critical with a robotic car, than with a human driver. The danger, lies in the fact, that these robotic cars, will lull the human driver, into a sense of complacency. Where they think that 99.90% of scenarios will keep them safe. And maybe it might. But what about that 0.10% scenario where it won't. And not only is it dangerous for them, then it is also even more dangerous for someone else. And when the robotic car gets into a situation where it needs human assistance, then it is an extreme edge case, where no human can possibly react safely in time. The human driver would never have gotten themselves into that situation in the first place. But even with all that, I am still rooting for robotic cars to succeed, and to safely drive us all one day. And to safely handle that 0.10% scenario.

dirktheman 8y ago
Totally agree with the mandatory robotic cars and that we should make them more safe, thanks for the clarification!